Australia more cautious about driverless cars than many nations: poll

Australians are more sceptical about driverless cars than those in many other countries, with a new poll showing one in six would never use one.

An Ipsos survey covering 28 countries found Australians were less optimistic than the international average about the perceived benefits of driverless cars including safety, speed, efficiency, cost, comfort, environmental impact and enjoyment.

In Australia 25 per cent said they “can’t wait to use” a driverless car – 5 percentage points lower than average. In China and India nearly half of those surveyed were in the “can't wait” camp.

The poll found 16 per cent of Australians “would never use” an autonomous vehicle, putting us “among the more sceptical nations” in the survey which probed international public opinions on a future with driverless cars.

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Reticence about this technology was most evident among older Australians – 21 per cent of those aged over 50 said they would never use a driverless car compared with 8 per cent of those under 35.

The federal government issued national guidelines for self-driving vehicle trials last May.

A report by consultancy firm KPMG released in January ranked Australia 14th out of 20 countries for autonomous vehicle “readiness”. It said consumer research suggested “Australians are fairly cynical about the technology”.

Australians are more cautious than most about driverless cars. Credit:AAP

The Ipsos poll found 56 per cent of Australians felt autonomous vehicles would make driving more comfortable, the sixth-lowest share out of the 28 nations in the study.

Autonomous parking was the most attractive feature of driverless cars among Australians.

“Perhaps the reluctance of Australians to embrace this emerging technology has to do with our nation having a historically strong identity as a car culture,” she said.

But Ms Elgood pointed out Australians were more open to the possibilities of this new technology than some other developed economies, including the US, UK, Germany and Japan.

The report said many Australians were unsure about the best way to regulate driverless cars “but would prefer government regulation over self-regulation by manufacturers and tech companies – whereas the opposite is true in America”.

More Australians would prefer to own an autonomous vehicle (34 per cent) than adopt other proposed models of use including hiring a driverless car on a per-use basis (19 per cent) or leasing one for a monthly subscription fee (9 per cent). China, which has a very different car culture to Australia, had strong support for a subscription model (35 per cent).

Globally, a majority of those surveyed said autonomous vehicles will be easier (69 per cent), more comfortable (68 per cent), safer (51 per cent), more relaxing (64 per cent), more economical (52 per cent), more enjoyable (59 per cent), and friendlier to the environment (57 per cent). Fewer think driverless cars will be faster (46 per cent).

Respondents in emerging economies such as India, China, Malaysia and Mexico tended to be much more enthusiastic about autonomous vehicles than those in developed economies especially Britain, the US and Japan.